Humanoid AI robots battle in China’s first fighting contest

Four artificial intelligence-enhanced robots have been put through their paces in a Chinese robot fighting competition, duking it out in kickboxing matches until one was declared the champion.

The World Robot Competition Mecha Fighting Series had four human-controlled robots built by China-based firm Unitree compete in three, two-minute rounds with winners crowned through a points system, according to a May 26 report from the China state-owned outlet the Global Times. 

Chen Xiyun, a Unitree team member, said the “robots fight in a human-machine collaborative way,” with the machines pre-taught moves, but ultimately, a person controls the bot’s movements.

The robots reportedly weighed 35 kilograms and stood 132 centimeters tall. Ahead of the boxing rounds, the pint-sized robots were put through tests to demonstrate a variety of kicks and punches and assist the organizers in refining the rules.

The team with the highest points across the three rounds moves on to fight another opponent. A punch to the head was worth one point, and a kick to the head was worth three. Teams lost five points if their robot fell and 10 points if their robot was down for over eight seconds. 

AI used to teach real fight moves

During a livestream of the event on the state broadcaster CCTV, Unitree director Wang Qixin  said the robotics company used “AI technology to let robots learn.”

🤖 China hosted the world’s first #humanoid robot fighting competition, the CMG World #Robot Competition. Four teams and their #UnitreeG1 robots duked it out in a globally live-streamed event! 🥊pic.twitter.com/vkODcSbPoQ

— Chinese Embassy in US (@ChineseEmbinUS) May 26, 2025

“First of all, the motion capture will be based on some professional fighting athletes. Based on their motion capture data, the robot will learn these movements in the virtual world,” he said.

In one of the first matches, a robot in pink headgear fought a robot in black headgear. After a flurry of sometimes misplaced punches and kicks, the black-donned bot was the first to be knocked down after throwing a kick and falling over. 

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However, the black-clad android came back strong and scored a knockdown on pink in round three with a front kick. A second knockdown saw the black bot jump on the pink one to hold it down and claim the win. 

The pink-wearing bot and another wearing red were both eliminated, leaving the black-donned bot and one wearing green to go toe to toe in the finals. Ultimately, the black bot was declared the champion after outscoring its opponent.

Another event with full-sized robots is reportedly locked in for December in South China’s Guangdong Province. 

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